Cote Leads Wahconah Girls Past Brattleboro, Vt.
BENNINGTON, Vt. -- Jilly Cote scored twice and set up two goals, and the Wahconah girls soccer team bounced back from a season-opening loss in impressive fashion on Saturday evening.
Wahconah pounded Brattleboro, 7-0, to win the consolation game of the 19th annual Lady Patriot Tournament and even its record at 1-1.
Hannah Bowlby and Noelle Furlong each scored twice, and Kelly Anderson made a pair of saves to preserve the shutout.
Other than an own goal off a Cote corner kick, five of Wahconah’s six tallies were assisted -- an encouraging sign for coach Meghan Smith.
“Everything that we’ve been working on at practice, we saw tonight,” Smith said. “Looking for that straight ball to the forwards, having our midfield cross the ball a little sooner. I was really impressed with those pieces coming together.
“And we were firing on the net and crashing the net. I was very proud that they put stuff from practice into the game.”
Wahconah led, 6-0, at half-time after starting the tourney with a 1-0 loss to host Mount Anthony Union on Thursday.
It compiled a 20-2 edge in shots on goal and a 11-1 edge in corner kicks.
Wahconah got the only offense it needed in the sixth minute when Cote intercepted a Brattleboro pass and connected from 35 yards out with a shot that appeared to graze the keeper’s fingertips and curl under the crossbar.
Eight minutes later, Cote scored from 25 yards out.
This time, it was an indirect free kick, and Chloe Accardi made the initial touch, leaving the ball near the spot of the restart for Cote, who launched an on-target shot to make it 2-0.
The next three goals started with Cote corner kicks.
In the 17th minute, she set up Hannah Bowlby with a restart from the left wing corner. Six minutes later Bowlby again one-timed a Cote corner -- this time from the right wing -- to make it 4-0.
Wahconah’s fifth goal started with Cote’s corner kick that a Colonel defender attempted to play out but instead kicked inside the near post.
The sixth and seventh goals came in the flow of the game.
Late in the first half, Furlong converted a cross from Morgan Marauszwski from the left wing. In the 52nd minute, Furlong headed in a Bowlby cross to provide the final margin of victory.
The lone sour note for Wahconah came in the opening minutes of the game, when junior forward Sadie Anderson was taken down hard inside the 18 and had to leave the game with what appeared to be an injury to her left leg.
Smith said she felt bad for Anderson having to miss the rest of the action.
“I think like the rest that you saw, the people who were playing, she has heart, she has drive, and she wanted to do her job for her team,” Smith said.
“We don’t play again until next Friday [at Cardinal Spellman]. So hopefully with some good rest and some days off, she’ll be able to come back sooner rather than later.”